Unknown Soldier
by Hakurei Ryuu
Summary: On the eve of the final battle, the Digidestined children look to to each other, and within themselves, for the strength they need to fight on.


**AN:** Of all the seasons of Digimon (aside from 5 - Savers/Data Squad, which was just crap), I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Season 3 (Tamers) was probably the deepest emotionally, but there was a lot left unsaid in that one. Seasons 1 and 2 (Adventure) are still my favorites, and I love them dearly, but now that I'm older, the plot isn't quite my style anymore. So it's odd that it was the season 4 (Frontier) cast that I really grew to love as characters. Maybe it was because it was actually the humans doing the fighting this time, instead of standing on the sidelines. I missed the idea of actual Digimon partners like they have in all the other seasons, but it might have been that one difference that made this season special.

As a side note, all the different digivice models are just digivices to me. D3s, D-Terminals, D-Powers, D-tectors... I don't waste time on terminology.

**Summary:** On the eve of the final battle, the Digidestined children look to their friends - and within themselves - for the strength they need to fight on.

**Warnings:** Beware of spoilers, both blatant and hinted at!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon. Neither do I own either the Pendragon series (specifically the 9th installment) or Nicole Silverwolf's story _Wishes on a Digital Falling Star_, both of which provided inspiration for this fic.

**Special Thanks:** Back in elementary school, I watched all seasons of Digimon, and could only dream of having a group of friends as wonderful and diverse and downright _special_ as the Digidestined. Then I hit high school, my dream came true, and I couldn't be happier! Haruka, Kurai, Kage, Ami, Hikari... I love you all! This fic is dedicated to all of you. Thank you for bringing me out into the world!

* * *

_"And know that what you do in the time of your greatest trial can be your greatest triumph. For the experience you create is a statement of Who You Are, and Who You Want to Be."_ -From _Conversations with God_, by Neale Donald Walsch.

* * *

On TV, in video games, there was always a lot of talk about the bad guys wanting to "destroy the world." JP always thought that was a bit of an extreme choice of words, since it implied total annihilation of the entire planet and everything on it. Everything _in_ it, even. Millennia of recorded history would be erased, as if it never even happened. Billions of lives simply wiped out, the vast majority of which would not even know how or why they died. Oceans emptied, mountains crumbled, miles of forest razed to the ground. The earth itself would have to be crushed, vaporized, or led to implode on itself. There would be nothing left but a hole in space.

Yet that was exactly what had happened.

They stood together on a fragment of rock, staring up at the black cloud of the digital Underworld, the aptly-named "Dark Area." That cloud was the only thing left of their vanished world, the unused Trailmon rails meshing around it barely holding onto the shape of the planet that was. None of them, human or digimon, could believe what they were seeing. They searched frantically for something, _anything_ remaining, but nothing had survived Lucemon's rampage, not even the three moons.

All around them were the sad signs of vanished life. Chunks of exploded moon-rock hung suspended in freefall. A hunk of the glass dome of the Starmon's space station floated by. The little packets of condensed data known as digi-eggs flew haphazardly through space, no longer having anywhere to return to. Even in the Village of Beginnings, JP had never seen so many eggs in his life.

"So many..." Zoey whispered next to him. She was staring at the eggs too.

"I think-" JP swallowed as a horrible idea came to him. "I think they're all the digimon. All of them."

Zoey practically stopped breathing. Koichi visibly flinched. Takuya whipped around to stare at him, horrified. All color drained from Koji's face as every one of them realized the truth.

No one was left. Everything they had fought to protect was gone. All the digimon friends they had made on their journey, all the comrades they'd had to leave behind, they were all dead. And with the Village of Beginnings gone, there was no chance of them being reborn. All the life of the entire Digital World now sat shivering on a hunk of rock, floating through space.

Tommy fell to his knees, unable to stand in the face of such a blow. "Does..." he began. "Does this mean we lost?"

No one had the heart to answer him.

-o-

Nearly an hour later, and little had changed. Tommy watched the others retreat to their own corners of the rock they were stranded on, barely making a sound. Perhaps they were thinking of a plan. A way to defeat Lucemon, even though he had knocked out both Takuya and Koji without even breaking a sweat, even though he had personally slaughtered the Royal Knights, the servant pair that all of them combined couldn't defeat. Maybe there was still a way to win...

And maybe he was just kidding himself.

With a sigh, the small boy sat down on the cold moon-rock, curling his knees to his chest for warmth. If he closed his eyes and tried really hard, he could almost pretend he was home. In the park, probably, with his parents smiling and buying him an ice-cream cone. Or he could be playing video games in his room, surrounded by all his toys. Or maybe Yutaka was taking him out to the soccer field, to finally teach him how to play. He was always saying he'd teach him someday, when he got time off from work and school. Though he'd been saying it less and less of late...

Despite Tommy's best efforts to the contrary, tears began forcing their way out from behind his closed lids. The memory of his older brother, and how he'd never understood what Yutaka was trying to say... Tommy was always young and naive, and his parents spoiled him. Yutaka understood what he didn't, that expecting everything on a silver platter wasn't the way the world worked. He couldn't expect to be protected all his life, or he'd find himself with no one around him, and no protection at all. Yutaka knew that, and tried to help his little brother in the only way he knew how.

Tommy wondered if Yutaka had been spoiled like he had been. Did he suffer the consequences that came with being unready for the world? Was that why he was so... hard? Was he trying to save Tommy from becoming like him? He had never asked, always assuming that his older brother was just jealous of Tommy's special treatment. Now he might never know. And Yutaka would never get to see how much he'd changed.

Somehow, he grinned at that thought. _Yutaka, if only you could see me now! I've fought things you've only ever seen in your nightmares, seen wonders only ever talked about in books!_ He pulled his digivice from his pocket and looked at it fondly. _And I'm betting you wouldn't beat Kumamon in a snowball fight as easily as you beat me!_

He looked at Takuya, still staring at what was left of the Digital World, and looking more serious than Tommy had ever seen him. For as long as he'd been here, Takuya had been his surrogate big brother. JP too, but mostly Takuya. Probably because Takuya had a brother at home too. Tommy wondered if he missed him. He wondered if Takuya had as much to show his brother as he did.

Takuya had protected Tommy. From day one, he'd always been there to make sure he was alright. But as time went on, he started to lean on Takuya less and less, slowly learning to stand without a friend - or brother - to prop him up. And the changes were astonishing. He was the youngest of the group, but now he could stand among them as an equal, pulling his own weight both in battle and in the wilderness, depending on others only as much as they depended on him in return.

That little boy who cried just because he was pushed suddenly seemed very far away.

Tommy's thoughts wandered to the ones who had done the pushing. Katsuharu and his friends had made it to the Digital World too, though they hadn't been chosen by the elemental spirits. They had managed to stay only through coincidence and stubbornness, though they had survived the dangers of this world. In fact, Tommy realized, they had thrived here, helping others wherever they went, and picking up a few life lessons as well. And when they finally left for home, they were indeed better people for the experience. _Just like us_, Tommy thought.

In another time, perhaps, and another place, they could have been Legendary Warriors as well.

A small _whumph_ came from somewhere to his left. Patamon had flapped up clumsily and grabbed onto Lopmon's ear, causing the bunny digimon to fall on top of Salamon. All three infant digimon burst into a fit of giggles, oblivious to the troubles of the rest of the world. _Their_ world consisted only of themselves, each other, and little wonders like this. And if the future wasn't destined to be perfect, you'd never know by looking at them.

Tommy smiled. As much as he wanted to wake up in his bed, safe and sound, he knew wouldn't trade this time for anything. Even though everything seemed lost, he refused to give up hope.

-o-

Zoey smiled slightly at the antics of the Celestial Digimon-in-training. Looking at her, you'd never believe that Lopmon was once the infamous Cherubimon that had given them so much grief. Then again, she never would have believed that Patamon and Seraphimon were one and the same, had she not seen the transformation with her own eyes. And the fact that Salamon, who looked more like a puppy than anything, was once Ophanimon, blew Zoey's mind.

It was Ophanimon's desperate cry for help that had brought them all here. Her messages to the real world had led them to the underground train station, where dozens of Trailmon waited to bring hundreds of children to the Digital World. Most of them were sent back almost immediately. Those who remained were as diverse a group as any, and grew close as they fought to survive. Ophanimon's cryptic messages had led them on a winding journey across sprawling continents, endless oceans, around the globe and back again. One by one, they each found their elemental spirits. They were given the abilities to defend themselves and others, as well as the opportunity to see exactly what it was they were expected to fight for.

They were given a choice too. Stay or go. It's up to you. And every one of them had chosen to stay. Not just for the adventure, or for the unspoiled beauty of the Digital World, but because they had a mission, and they were the only ones who could do it.

And they had failed.

There was absolutely no denying that fact. The Digital World was gone, and all of its inhabitants were dead with no chance of rebirth. As much as Zoey hated to admit defeat, they had failed in their duty. They had promised to protect the this world. Now all that was left of it was a swirling cloud of cosmic dust, while its so-called Legendary Warriors sat helpless on a rock, floating through space.

Zoey didn't question why they could somehow still breathe in what was supposed to be hard vacuum. The way she saw it, if she could breathe underwater while tracking down her beast-spirit, they could all breathe in outer space.

They were stranded out here, alone and frightened. All of their allies were dead and gone. They could only sit, helpless, waiting for Lucemon to emerge from his lair and finish what he started. Takuya and Koji had all of their powers combined, and Lucemon still defeated them effortlessly. If all the spirits put together couldn't beat him, then separately they stood no chance.

"Zoey?" asked a warm voice. In her thoughts, she hadn't noticed JP walk over to sit tentatively beside her. "Are you cold or something? You shivered."

"Oh," she responded tiredly. "I hadn't noticed." _It wouldn't surprise me though_, she thought grimly. _Just the thought of Lucemon's enough to make my skin crawl..._ She sill remembered the look he had given her, one of utmost loathing, but at the same time assessing her as a threat. Those blank, calculating eyes just never seemed to stop moving...

JP sighed. "Here," he said, reaching into one of his many pockets, "You want a bar of chocolate? It'll warm you up."

Zoey gave him a strange look. Then she smiled slightly. "Nah," she said, "you eat it. I doubt I'll ever have an appetite again." JP's face fell at the rejection, and he placed the candy back in its pocket, untouched. Then, hardly believing his brass, he haltingly placed an arm around her shoulders. She did not turn away.

For a time they sat in silence.

"JP?" Zoey asked in a small voice.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think's gonna happen?"

JP hesitated before answering. "We're the Legendary Warriors," he said with false bravado. "There has to be a way to beat him. I mean, they found a way the first time, so we're bound to defeat him again this time, right?"

"But they _didn't_ beat him, JP, they could only lock him away. And he was weaker then; he didn't have all the Digital World's data to strengthen him. Plus, it was the _ten_ Legendary Warriors who sealed him. This time we're only six."

He blinked. "Well, geez, you don't have to be so negative-"

"I'm serious, JP!" Zoey exclaimed. Fighting back tears, the petite blonde turned her face skyward. "Look at all of them," she said fiercely, gesturing to the thousands of digi-eggs still flying chaotically about. "They all believed in us. They believed we could save them. And look at them! _They're dead!_" Desperately, Zoey pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face, no longer able to keep her emotions in check. Tears streamed down her face as she whispered despairingly, "They're all dead..."

JP couldn't speak, he couldn't even move. It was all he could do to rub Zoey's back gently, though his attempts at comfort felt clumsy. He had his own thoughts about the Legendary Warriors' abilities, the dynamics of their team, and destiny in general. He had thoughts about Lucemon, and what he was scheming inside that black cloud. He also had thoughts - many of them - about Zoey, and knew what he said next would have to be the absolute truth.

His father had always taught him that denying something meant saying it didn't exist, and you let it control you, and acceptance made a thing real, and gave you a power over it. If something was real, you could do something about it - act on it, use it, change it if you want to. It's only the things that aren't real that you should be afraid of.

His feelings for Zoey were real. Lucemon's threat was very real. And yet he wasn't sure what scared him more.

Silent, JP looked around him. The only sounds were Zoey's sobbing and the occasional murmur from other conversations within the group. Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon were still playing, while Tommy looked on with a small smile. Bokomon and Neemon sat far off to the right, bickering about something or other. Koichi and Koji were deep in their own intense conversation. Takuya sat by himself, staring up at the ruins of the Digital World.

One of the things JP knew for a fact were not real were the things that hide in the dark. Phantoms and monsters and all those things that are scared away by a flickering nightlight, none of them were real, and so people feared them. Lucemon was hiding in the dark, planning his next attack, but nothing could be more real than the damage he'd caused. The flying digi-eggs were real, the shattered fragments of moon-rock were real. The Digital World was real, or at least it used to be...

"It's still there," JP said suddenly.

"What is?" Zoey asked.

"The fractal code," he whispered in wonderment. "From the land, the forests, the digimon... It's all still alive and whole, inside Lucemon. If we can just defeat him, all the data will go back to where it belongs!" He turned to look at her, a new determination in his eyes. "We can bring them all back! We can!"

Zoey stared at her friend. She had only seen him like this a couple of times before, but it always astounded her that, however flighty he acted for show, JP was always a rock of stability for the entire group. He thought things through and saw straight to the heart of the issue. When he truely believe in what he said, when he spoke with that kind of passion, he was almost always right.

Somehow, that fact gave her new hope.

Almost on its own, her hand reached into her jacket pocket, feeling the familiar curves of her digivice. "Come on, Z," JP urged, "Kazemon wouldn't give up, and neither will you. I know you. You're stronger than that." Then he stood and grinned, a touch of his old humor returning. "And you _know_ Beetlemon's always ready for action. So what do you say?" He held out a hand. "Are you with me?"

As she reached upward, some part of Zoey's brain that was still working noted that she and JP had a total of two things in common: they were both Legendary Warriors, and they both had a hard time making friends. Actually, the latter probably no longer counted, as, if they survived this adventure, she would have no trouble talking to people ever again. One thing in common between them, and bonded by trauma. There were worse ways to meet somebody, but she filed that thought to the back of her mind, to be explored at her leisure another day. For another day there would be, as long as she believed.

She stood up.

-o-

_"You are powerless to defeat me. Obey or die."_ Koji Minamoto was not the type to let Lucemon's challenge go unanswered, but until he had a plan, until he figured out how he had gotten so exponentially more powerful, flying after him would be utterly pointless.

That did not, however, mean he had to _like_ just sitting around.

Lucemon was powerful enough when he first arrived on the scene, but he used most of the data gathered by the Royal Knights to break out of his virtual prison. But even factoring in the Knights themselves, whose data was some of the strongest out there, he shouldn't have been able to defeat both Koji and Takuya in a single shot. Koji barely remembered what happened in that battle - there was only a black and white blur... and for a moment he was flying... and the next thing he knew he was slammed headfirst into the ground, with enough power behind the blow to crack the moon in half. Small wonder he had been unable to maintain his digimon form. Koji was more surprised that he and Takuya had actually survived that encounter.

How did he do it? How? He shouldn't have been that strong! All macho bravado aside, Lucemon should have lost. From what Koji had been able to gather, Beowulfmon and Aldamon were about the equivalent of a mega-level digimon, and MagnaGarurumon and EmperorGreymon were at that rare, unnamed level beyond even that, a power level that few digimon could even dream of reaching. It came with a downside though, for them anyway: while the others lent Takuya and Koji their spirits, they were left helpless and unable to join the fight.

Was there a level beyond that point? Apparently, because Lucemon defeated both of them with almost comical ease. He didn't even bother finishing them off, he considered them that far beneath him.

_Well, that'll be your mistake, Lucemon_, Koji thought fiercely, staring daggers into the black cloud above. _Never underestimate your opponents._

There had to be a way to reach that next level, that next stage. But how? They had already combined all the spirits together. What more could be done? Did they have to join as one in a different way? Perhaps the ten warriors, separate, but fighting as one, were stronger than previously suspected. That strategy had come the closest to defeating the Royal Knights, doing more damage than Koji and Takuya alone ever could, but they couldn't expect lightning to strike twice. Miracles like that didn't happen every day.

Gotsumon had certainly proven that the small were strong. Koji wondered which digi-egg he was in...

Putting the question aside for now, he leaned back slightly on his hands and looked up past all the debris, up at the stars. Stars were such interesting things, he mused. Hundreds of thousands of little pinpricks of light, surrounded by a black void. You could never get a good view of them from the city, where pollution thickened the clouds and city lights made evening light up like high noon. Stars could only shine when everything else was in darkness.

There was a lesson in there somewhere, but he decided not to pursue it.

Turning slightly, Koji glanced at the boy beside him. Clothes and hairstyle aside, looking at Koichi was like looking in a mirror. Same face, same eyes... he was even sitting the same way, looking up at the stars just like Koji was. The only differences were those born of personality and lifestyle: from what they had been able to tell, Koichi was older, but he was thinner than Koji, probably from not being able to eat as much or as often. And where Koji's eyes were hard and challenging, Koichi's were softer, sadder, and usually had a sort of faraway look to them.

_Like now_, Koji thought. For the past few days, it wasn't hard to tell that something was bothering him. For all that he was the Warrior of Darkness, Koichi was pretty easy to read. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Koichi jumped, then relaxed when he saw who it was.

"What's going on with you?" Koji asked bluntly.

Koichi blinked, instantly getting defensive. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean," he replied in a softer tone, "that you've been jumping at shadows for the past few days. You've also been quieter than usual, and that's saying something. Something's bugging you, and I want to know what it is."

Koji watched, bemused, as Koichi's expression went from surprised, to annoyed, to - was that fear? And then his face was blank again, not giving away anything. Clearly he was thinking about something, and thinking hard. He remained silent.

All throughout Koji's childhood, there was always this strange feeling in the back of his mind. Sometimes it was a good feeling, but more often than not it was sad and angry, and it often affected his own mood. It was very confusing, because Koji knew they weren't _his_ emotions he was feeling, but he couldn't do anything about them. So he learned to ignore _all_ emotions, whether they were his own or not. And he was always alone.

Now, with the appearance of Koichi, all those feelings suddenly made sense. Twins shared the same brainwaves, it was a proven fact. And even more, Koji suddenly found himself looking out for someone besides himself, in a way that went beyond the bond he had with his friends. "Koichi," he said gently, "In the short weeks that we've known each other, we've told each other everything, and helped one another with the questions we've had since we were separated. I can tell something's bothering you, but for some reason you're not sharing. Whatever it is, let me help you."

Koichi stared at the ground. For all his twin acted cold and uncaring to the rest of the world, he was just as susceptible to human emotions as anyone. Perhaps even more so.

He had met his estranged brother under the worst of circumstances. Possessed and enraged, he sought to kill Koji and everyone associated with him, even knowing full well who and what his opponent was, and not caring one bit. It was only through Ophanimon's power that the evil influence was driven out, and the spirits of Darkness returned to their true form.

His grandmother once told him an old folktale: there are two monsters inside everyone, locked in combat. One was good, and the other was evil. Which one wins? he had asked. The one you feed, she replied. Cherubimon had fed the evil monster in his heart until it grew beyond all control, and only Koji's intervention had finally killed it. But by then the good in his heart was so small and weak that, for a while, nothing was left but emptiness.

It was that emptiness that he refused to burden his brother with. The blank spots in his memory, along with that strange feeling that he really didn't belong, here or anywhere, tormented him with their mystery like nothing else. Of course, the latter wasn't really a new thing in his life, but it had intensified over the past week or so. Ever since the battle at the Autumn Leaf Fair...

_"You mean you really don't know?"_ Crusadermon's incredulous voice still echoed in his mind, along with the crushing revelation that followed.

_She said I didn't exist, that I was only a spirit in this world._ Fear consumed Koichi at the thought. It made sense. Whenever the others got hit, they were left injured, unconscious, or worse, but he was always perfectly fine. And how could that be possible unless he was already...

Half-formed fragments of memory scrolled through his vision, memories of just before he came to the Digital World. Watching as his grandmother lay dying, squeezing her hand one last time. Rushing to the train station, filled with this desperate need to find the brother he never knew he had. Missing the elevator. Frantic running down the back stairs, colliding with people as he went. Falling... falling...

Koichi gave a short gasp as he returned to himself, breathing hard. Was that what had happened that fateful day? Did he fall to his death in the basement of Shibuya Station, never to find his twin brother like his grandmother wanted? What would happen to his mother? She had just lost her own mother, she wouldn't be able to take losing her son too...

"Koichi?" Koichi jumped as he felt the hand on his shoulder tighten. Once again, his brother had seen the worry and fear in his face. And yet, looking at him, looking at the others, the friends and comrades he'd never expected to have, he felt the fear slip away, and his resolve tightened. Whatever had happened in the real world, the Digital World was where he was now. He had fought to protect his friends and family, and they had helped him in return. He had seen disasters and miracles like he'd never even dreamed. He could feel the weight of his brother's hand on his shoulder.

He was real in all the ways that mattered.

"Listen Koji," he said, resolve in every line of his face, "When all this is over, I want you to visit our mom."

Koji looked surprised by the sudden change in his brother's mood. "But why-"

"Promise me!" he persisted.

"Of course I'll visit Mom," said Koji. "I've been looking forward to meeting her ever since I met you. Why do you think I'd need to promise something like that?"

Koichi didn't answer, only smiled and sat back. Whatever had happened in the real world, and whatever happened here, Mrs. Kimura _would_ see her son again.

-o-

Watching them talk, Takuya wondered briefly if Lobomon and Löwemon were brothers as well. According to Patamon, the _concepts_ of Light and Darkness were brothers, and for all the little guy was all of a month old, he had certainly proven to be a reliable source of information.

It made him wonder if Shinya knew what had happened to him. As big a pest as the kid was, Takuya missed his little brother, and wondered what was going on back home. Did they have Shinya's birthday party without him, or were they still waiting for him to come home? Did they call the police about his disappearance, or were they searching the neighborhood themselves? Were they even still searching? Or had they already mourned his loss and moved on?

_I gotta stop thinking about that_, he told himself. _I came to terms with the fact that I might never see them again a long time ago..._

How long had it even been since he left? Easily two or three months, at least. It felt like years, the amount he'd changed in that span of time. Everywhere they'd gone on their journey, they'd done some good somewhere, restored a little piece of the Digital World. It seemed like they were winning... and then it took Dynasmon and Crusadermon only a few days to reduce the Digital World to... to _that_. Everything they'd worked for, everything they'd fought so long and hard for, all vanished in the space of a breath.

What was hardest to accept, he decided, was that they never stood a chance all along. Lucemon was always there, waiting. Even if they _had_ stopped the Royal Knights' rampage in time, he would have had some other plan waiting in the wings. Koichi, Sakkakumon, Cherubimon, the Knights... they could have gone on defeating one enemy after another, and it still would have been hopeless.

There was nothing they could have done. It was a futile quest, from the very beginning.

He kept searching for some point of light, some kind of silver lining, but couldn't think of anything. For the hundredth time, he looked down at the digivice in his hand, searching the thing as if it could give him inspiration. Agunimon stared back at him from within the tiny screen, silent and solemn. _This is something you need to figure out on your own_, he seemed to say.

_But I don't know what I'm supposed to do_, Takuya thought desperately. _Everyone's waiting for me to give them some kind of pep talk. They want me to tell them there's still a way to win. They want me to lead them to victory against impossible odds, and I don't know if I can do that._

"Takuya?" asked a small voice he recognized. Tommy was standing behind him. "Takuya, I think we're all ready."

"Ready for what?" he asked tiredly, "To go home?" _I certainly am, but that doesn't seem possible at the moment..._

"Ready to _fight_, idiot," came a scathing voice to his right. Koji was walking toward him, Koichi not far behind. Both looked more determined than he had ever seen them in his life. "Are _you_ ready?"

Takuya looked at Koji for a moment, then back at what was left of the Digital world. "I'm not sure," he said quietly. By now the others were gathered together, the digimon present watching silently. "I keep wondering what he's doing up there. I mean, he's obviously waiting for us, but what can we do? We've given everything we had, and it wasn't anywhere near enough. I want to do _something_, but..." he trailed off, the hopelessness of their situation evident in his voice.

JP was quiet for a moment. "My dad always told me that if a thing is real, there's something you can do about it, so you shouldn't fear it. It's only things that aren't real you should be afraid of."

Koichi blinked, then gave a small smirk. _Crusadermon said _I'm _not real_, he thought. _Should Lucemon fear me?_

"It doesn't matter if we're scared!" Zoey exclaimed. "We accepted this quest, knowing full well where it might lead, and we will see it through to the end!" Takuya looked at her. Rarely did he ever see that kind of fire in her clear grey eyes, but when he did, it always filled him with hope.

"We have a responsibility to everyone who believed in us," Tommy said quietly. "What would they say if we didn't at least try?"

"And even if we didn't," Koji added, cold anger flaring in his eyes, "I still want to take that piece of digital trash apart for what he's done to this world."

"What world?" Takuya exclaimed. "The world's gone! There's nothing left to save!"

Koichi bore a look of fierceness and determination that was quite uncharacteristic for the quiet boy. "We're still here, aren't we? And I don't think we would be here if there wasn't something we could _do_ about it," he said.

Abruptly, Takuya flashed back to what he'd said that day in the Village of Beginnings: _"Well this is our home too, and I'm proud to be a Digimon!"_ It seemed so simple at the time, but truer words were never spoken. The Digital World _was_ their home - they had lived in it, learned in it, grown in it. They had made friends in it, and fought with their lives to defend it. And looking around him now, Takuya realized that each and every one of them was prepared to die for it.

A small sound came from Takuya's digivice, and a look at Koji told him he was getting the same signal. From out of the tiny screens, four familiar faces smiled at the two boys, and they couldn't help but smile back. Once more Takuya remembered the Village of Beginnings, where the spirits of the remaining four Warriors made a stand against the Royal Knights, taking up arms with their brethren for the first time in millennia. It was there in that sacred place that the children learned they had the support of all ten Legendary Warriors, not just the six they carried in their hearts. The memory of them as they vanished once again, hope and trust shining in their eyes... They truly believed they could save their world and everything in it from the fury that was Lucemon.

Lucemon. When he finally came, he had offered them a choice. _"Obey or die,"_ he'd said, his demonic voice perfectly neutral even as he drained his own servants of their power. Even as he slammed Takuya and Koji into the ground with seemingly no effort whatsoever. The choice he'd given them was a simple one, but nothing was ever simple when the fate of the world was at stake.

_**It's up to you now. Which one will you choose?**_

Long ago, at the very beginning of their quest, Ophanimon had offered them a similar choice. It was another deceptively simple statement that held a lot more weight than one might realize. Back then they had no idea what they were getting into, but they went anyway, trusting the enigmatic being that had brought them all together, and believing in the single, simple little question that started it all.

Takuya looked around at all of his friends, the closest friends he'd ever had... Tommy Himi, Warrior of Ice, generous and self-sacrificing, and no longer the naive little child he once was. Zoey Orimoto, Warrior of Wind, as sweet and kind as she was beautiful, and one who would do anything for a friend in need. JP Shibayama, Warrior of Thunder, both a thinker and a fighter, and with much more to him than meets the eye. Koji Minamoto, Warrior of Light, cold and calculating, but not ruthless, and possessed of a fierce sense of justice. Koichi Kimura, Warrior of Darkness, still an enigma, but perhaps the most determined of all of them to keep this world safe.

_And me_, he thought. _Takuya Kanbara, Warrior of Fire, who finally realized that this is not a game_. He turned around. All of his friends, comrades, brothers-in-arms, they all looked at him with a question in their eyes, as though awaiting his decision.

An irony struck him: Throughout most of their journey, it had always been Takuya who encouraged the others to never give up. Now he realized that that support went both ways... and he couldn't be more grateful.

_What will I choose? As if that were ever in doubt!_

He smiled. "What are we waiting for?"

The six of them had stood together through everything. Relationships were tested, babies were born, and blood was spilled. Morals were questioned. Lessons were learned. The impossible was attempted, and miracles ensued. Promises were made. So were threats. Armageddon had come and gone, and still they had survived.

As one, they turned and faced the ruined planet that had become their second home, the place where they all met and discovered their true identity, power, and destiny.

_We are the Digidestined_, Takuya thought, _The soldiers of the Digital World_.

He gripped his digivice tighter.

_It's time for us to take it back._

* * *

_**Owari.**_

* * *

**Author's Notes****:**

_In another time, perhaps, and another place, they could have been Legendary Warriors as well._

-Am I the only one who is of the opinion that all ten spirits should have been handed out? Katsuharu and his gang would have done nicely. Though I suppose they decided against it, if only for the fact that they entered the story rather abruptly. It would have been too convenient. Sue-ishness all around...

_Looking at her, you'd never believe that Lopmon was once the infamous Cherubimon that had given them so much grief._

-I called Lopmon "her" because her voice has always been distinctly female, even though Cherubimon is quite obviously male, and also because it's been canonically established that a digimon's gender is relative to their appearance and needs. Take Crusadermon for example: in the English dub, she's a deep-voiced female, but in Japanese, Crusadermon is a very effeminate male. It's all just dependant on what's needed for the situation, and what the artistry happens to look like.

_His grandmother once told him an old folktale..._

-That story with the good and evil monsters is a Native American legend, though I forget exactly where I heard it. In the actual legend, it's two wolves duking it out inside everyone. But the punchline I kept exactly the same.

_-o-o-o-o-o-_

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